Clouds, 2021, Eurorack modular synthsizer, Eurorack video player, 5 speakers, 5 power amplifiers, gelatin silver print
Kunstraum Botschaft, Berlin (commissioned by Fundação EDP)
“Microsonic processes introduce the possibility of evaporation, coalescence, and mutation of sound materials, analogous to the ever-changing pattern of clouds in the sky.”[1]
Five islands are at the heart of Clouds, or you can see them as five voices, João Pimenta Gomes tells me quickly. They form an archipelago of sorts at the heart of the exhibition. They communicate together through a network of synthesizers, sequencers or filters and sub-woofers. When asked, Pimenta Gomes is happy to explain their setup. However, beyond the technical detail of how they link together, at the heart of the installation is the idea that each island is playing a composition inspired by an urban cloud-scape. The work invites us to listen to the choreography of microsounds, to try to discern sound loops, patterns and progressions, to attempt to understand each island’s language, as their sounds modulate over the course of the show.
(From “Cloud Variations” by Emily Butler)
